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19 results

A Companion to the Global Early Middle Ages
  • Edited by Erik Hermans
  • Published by:
    Amsterdam University Press
    Published online:
    20 November 2020
    Print publication:
    29 February 2020
  • This companion introduces the connections between early medieval societies that have previously been studied in isolation. By bringing together nineteen experts on different regions across the globe, from Oceania to Europe and beyond, it transcends conventional disciplinary boundaries and synthesizes parallel historiographical narratives.

  • Introduction

  • Edited by Erik Hermans
  • Book:
    A Companion to the Global Early Middle Ages
    Published by:
    Amsterdam University Press
    Published online:
    20 November 2020
    Print publication:
    29 February 2020, pp 1-12

  • Summary

    LOCAL EXPERIENCES OF human beings have always been influenced by large-scale processes. In pre-modern societies, the ripple effects of distant events were in general not as immediate and clearly palpable as in today's world, but they were no less present. This companion aims to lay bare the extent to which societies across the globe were connected during one phase of the pre-modern era: the Early Middle Ages, which are defined here as approximately the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries. This period witnessed important historical developments, such as the establishment of the Srivijaya, a Southeast Asian thalassocracy; the expansion of the Frankish polity under Charlemagne on the far ends of Afro-Eurasia; and the consolidation of the ʿAbbāsid and Tang empires in between (see Map 1). Historical developments such as those have not yet been integrated into a global perspective. In some cases, the historical record has left clear evidence of longdistance connectivity, such as Persian artefacts stored in an imperial storehouse in Japan during the eighth century or coins from the ʿAbbāsid caliphate found in northern Europe and East Africa. However, structural connectivity across different regions is often not immediately visible and has to be deduced from a deep understanding of multiple societies. The purpose of this companion is therefore first and foremost to expand the knowledge of anyone interested in the history of the period in question. While most professional historians have expertise in the history of one or a few regions of the globe, the following nineteen chapters provide a panorama of the early medieval world from the Pacific Islands via the major regions of Afro-Eurasia to Mesoamerica. The individual chapters aim thus to satisfy the curiosity of early medieval historians who want to know more about regions that influence the ones that they specialize in. The panorama of all chapters taken together, moreover, aims to contribute to a more inclusive narrative of early medieval history.

    Macrohistorical Narratives

    Every narrative of the past is shaped in part by the experiences of its historiographers. The interest in a global context of historical developments, the so-called “global turn” that many historiographical fields have experienced in recent decades, is an example of this phenomenon, since the latest generations of historians grew up in a world where global connectivity permeates their everyday lives more so than ever before.

  • Chapter 19 - Intellectual Connectivity

  • Edited by Erik Hermans
  • Book:
    A Companion to the Global Early Middle Ages
    Published by:
    Amsterdam University Press
    Published online:
    20 November 2020
    Print publication:
    29 February 2020, pp 539-552

  • Summary

    THE HISTORICAL PANORAMA of the previous eighteen chapters demonstrates that all the regions of the early medieval globe were connected through trade, diplomacy, and war. Although they were not aware of this, merchants, diplomats, and soldiers interacted with each other in a framework that was partly influenced by the global processes of climate change and trade cycles. One aspect of human societies that has not come to the fore in the previous discussions of these processes is the history of intellectual discourse; and with good reason. At first glance, the texts and ideas of the educated elites are hardly the tissue that connected distant societies. Nevertheless, although they pale in comparison to the exchange of material goods, there were instances of the transmission of higher learning across cultural and linguistic boundaries. I will therefore complete this companion's exploration of early medieval connectivity by briefly presenting these remarkable cases of intellectual exchange. Before I do so, however, I will explain why higher learning did not diffuse as widely as material goods.

    The Limited Diffusion of Higher Learning

    In the early medieval period, like in any other period of human history, ideas travelled wherever people travelled. Since there were very few places of the globe that had not yet been settled by humans by the seventh century, it is fair to say that the early medieval dissemination of ideas was a global phenomenon. The same is true to a lesser extent for intellectual discourse, which is here broadly defined as a discourse of ideas that transcended immediate practical needs, such as for economic, administrative, or liturgical purposes. No clear-cut separation between different types of human knowledge exists, but they can all be placed on a spectrum that runs from the intuitive and practitioner's knowledge via technological knowledge to scientific and higher-order knowledge. Here, I focus on the latter end of that spectrum. This chapter therefore does not include technological treatises and ideas, but it does discuss medical texts, since those were more closely related to philosophical debates in this period.

    Intellectual discussions occur in every human community, including illiterate or nomadic ones.

  • Absorption of plant lignans from cereals in an experimental pig model

  • Anne Katrine Bolvig, Herman Adlercreutz, Peter Kappel Theil, Henry Jørgensen, Knud Erik Bach Knudsen
  • Journal:
    British Journal of Nutrition / Volume 115 / Issue 10 / 28 May 2016
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    22 March 2016, pp. 1711-1720
    Print publication:
    28 May 2016
    • Article
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  • Plant lignans are diphenolic compounds ingested with whole grains and seeds and converted to enterolignans by the colonic microbiota. In the present study, we investigated absorption and metabolism of plant lignans and enterolignans in vivo after consumption of cereal-based diets. Six pigs fitted with catheters in the mesenteric artery and portal vein and with a flow probe attached to the portal vein along with twenty pigs for quantitative collection of urine were used for this study. The animals were fed bread based on wheat flour low in plant lignans and three lignan-rich breads based on whole-wheat grain, wheat aleurone flour or rye aleurone flour. Plant lignans and enterolignans in plasma were monitored daily at fast after 0–3 d of lignan-rich intake, and on the 4th day of lignan-rich intake a 10-h profile was completed. Urine samples were collected after 11 d of lignan-rich diet consumption. The concentrations of plant lignans were low at fast, and was 1·2–2·6 nmol/l after switching from the low-lignan diet to the lignan-rich diets. However, on the profile day, the concentration and quantitative absorption of plant lignans increased significantly from 33 nmol/h at fast to 310 nmol/h 0–2·5 h after ingestion with a gradual increase in the following periods. Quantitatively, the absorption of plant lignans across diets amounted to 7 % of ingested plant lignans, whereas the urinary excretion of plant lignans was 3 % across diets. In conclusion, there is a substantial postprandial uptake of plant lignans from cereals, suggesting that plant lignans are absorbed from the small intestine.

  • IMPRECISE MARKOV CHAINS AND THEIR LIMIT BEHAVIOR

  • Gert de Cooman, Filip Hermans, Erik Quaeghebeur
  • Journal:
    Probability in the Engineering and Informational Sciences / Volume 23 / Issue 4 / October 2009
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    04 August 2009, pp. 597-635

  • When the initial and transition probabilities of a finite Markov chain in discrete time are not well known, we should perform a sensitivity analysis. This can be done by considering as basic uncertainty models the so-called credal sets that these probabilities are known or believed to belong to and by allowing the probabilities to vary over such sets. This leads to the definition of an imprecise Markov chain. We show that the time evolution of such a system can be studied very efficiently using so-called lower and upper expectations, which are equivalent mathematical representations of credal sets. We also study how the inferred credal set about the state at time n evolves as n→∞: under quite unrestrictive conditions, it converges to a uniquely invariant credal set, regardless of the credal set given for the initial state. This leads to a non-trivial generalization of the classical Perron–Frobenius theorem to imprecise Markov chains.

  • Commentary: Genetic modification through oligonucleotide-mediated mutagenesis. A GMO regulatory challenge?

  • Didier Breyer, Philippe Herman, Annick Brandenburger, Godelieve Gheysen, Erik Remaut, Patrice Soumillion, Jan Van Doorsselaere, René Custers, Katia Pauwels, Myriam Sneyers, Dirk Reheul
  • Journal:
    Environmental Biosafety Research / Volume 8 / Issue 2 / April 2009
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    10 July 2009, pp. 57-64
    Print publication:
    April 2009
    • Article
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  • In the European Union, the definition of a GMO is technology-based. This means that a novel organism will be regulated under the GMO regulatory framework only if it has been developed with the use of defined techniques. This approach is now challenged with the emergence of new techniques. In this paper, we describe regulatory and safety issues associated with the use of oligonucleotide-mediated mutagenesis to develop novel organisms. We present scientific arguments for not having organisms developed through this technique fall within the scope of the EU regulation on GMOs. We conclude that any political decision on this issue should be taken on the basis of a broad reflection at EU level, while avoiding discrepancies at international level.

  • Ensayo multicéntrico, aleatorio, naturalista y abierto de comparación entre aripiprazol y el estándar óptimo de tratamiento de pacientes esquizofrénicos de la comunidad Ensayo de Aripiprazol en la Esquizofrenia: estudio STAR

  • Robert Kerwin, Bruno Millet, Erik Herman, Csaba M. Banki, Henrik Lublin, Miranda Pans, Linda Hanssens, Gilbert L'Italien, Robert D. McQuade, Jean-Noël Beuzen
  • Journal:
    European Psychiatry (Ed.Española) / Volume 15 / Issue 1 / February 2008
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    12 May 2020, pp. 31-42
    Print publication:
    February 2008
  • Antecedentes.

    Los ensayos naturalistas sobre la efectividad de los antipsicóticos atípicos son necesarios para aportar una información más amplia sobre la eficacia, la seguridad y la tolerabilidad en pacientes con esquizofrenia tratados en un centro médico de la comunidad.

    Métodos.

    En este estudio multicéntrico abierto de 26 semanas, diversos pacientes con esquizofrenia, que necesitaron un cambio en la medicación antipsicótica porque no toleraban bien la medicación actual y/o porque los síntomas clínicos no estaban bien controlados, se aleatorizaron para recibir aripiprazol o un tratamiento estándar (TE) con un antipsicótico atípico (por ejemplo, olanzapina, quetiapina o risperidona en función del juicio del investigador sobre el tratamiento óptimo de cada paciente individual y la respuesta previa del paciente a la medicación antipsicótica). El objetivo principal fue comparar la efectividad de un tratamiento de 26 semanas con aripiprazol con el TE, medido por la puntuación total del Cuestionario de Evaluación del Investigador (IAQ) en la última observación arrastrada (UOA) de la semana 26 (variable primaria), una medida validada que controla el alivio o el empeoramiento de 10 síntomas clave asociados con la psicopatología de la esquizofrenia y los efectos secundarios del tratamiento antipsicótico. Los objetivos secundarios fueron evaluar la efectividad usando las escalas Impresión Clínica Global - Mejoría Global (CGI-I) e Impresión Clínica Global - Gravedad de la Enfermedad, para evaluar el tiempo transcurrido hasta la suspensión del tratamiento, la preferencia del paciente respecto a la medicación, y la calidad de vida y la tolerabilidad de aripiprazol comparado con el TE.

    Resultados.

    El tratamiento con aripiprazol (n=268) fue significativamente más eficaz que el TE (n = 254; P < 0,001; UOA de la semana 26), evidenciado por la puntuación IAQ total, desde la semana 4 (primera fase de evaluación) y se mantuvo hasta la semana 26. Una relación similar se demostró en los pacientes que terminaron el estudio (análisis de casos observados); aripiprazol se asoció con una efectividad significativamente mayor en todas las fases de evaluación con un mayor efecto diferencial de TE con el tiempo. Los pacientes tratados con aripiprazol también tuvieron mejorías significativamente mayores en la escala CGI-I (tasa de rspuesta, P = 0,009 en la UOA de la semana 26), y en la calidad de vida (puntuación total en la escala de Calidad de Vida; P < 0,001 en la semana 26). Además, una proporción significativamente mayor de pacientes que recibieron aripiprazol calificaron la medicación del estudio como “mucho mejor” en la escala del Cuestionario de Preferencias de Medicación (POM) que la medicación anterior al estudio comparados con los pacientes tratados con TE (P < 0,001; semana 26). El tiempo hasta la suspensión del tratamiento y las tasas de suspensión debidas a episodios adversos fueron similares en los dos grupos de tratamiento. La incidencia de pacientes con uno o varios síntomas extrapiramidales (por ejemplo, acatisia, distonía, episodios parkinsonianos y episodios residuales) fue mayor en los pacientes que recibieron aripiprazol comparados con los pacientes tratados con TE (13,5% frente a 5,6%); sin embargo, una proporción mayor de pacientes del grupo TE tuvo un aumento de peso clínicamente significativo (21,2% frente a 7,3% para aripiprazol) y de las concentraciones séricas (potencialmente importantes desde el punto de vista clínico) de colesterol total, colesterol de lipoproteínas de baja densidad, triglicéridos y prolactina comparados con los pacientes que recibieron aripiprazol.

    Conclusiones.

    Aripiprazol es un antipsicótico atípico eficaz para el tratamiento de la esquizofrenia, que ha demostrado más efectividad que los fármacos estándar usados en este estudio en pacientes que necesitaban un cambio en la medicación antipsicótica.

  • A multicentre, randomized, naturalistic, open-label study between aripiprazole and standard of care in the management of community-treated schizophrenic patients Schizophrenia Trial of Aripiprazole: (STAR) study

  • Robert Kerwin, Bruno Millet, Erik Herman, Csaba M. Banki, Henrik Lublin, Miranda Pans, Linda Hanssens, Gilbert L'Italien, Robert D. McQuade, Jean-Noël Beuzen
  • Journal:
    European Psychiatry / Volume 22 / Issue 7 / October 2007
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    07 June 2007, pp. 433-443
  • Background

    Naturalistic effectiveness trials of atypical antipsychotics are needed to provide broader information on efficacy, safety, and tolerability in patients with schizophrenia treated in a community practice setting.

    Method

    in this 26-week, open-label, multicentre study, patients with schizophrenia requiring a switch in antipsychotic medication because current medication was not well tolerated and/or clinical symptoms were not well controlled were randomized to receive aripiprazole or an atypical antipsychotic standard of care (SOC) treatment (i.e., olanzapine, quetiapine, or risperidone based on the investigator's judgment of the optimal treatment for the individual patient and the patient's prior response to antipsychotic medication). The primary objective was to compare the effectiveness of a 26-week treatment of aripiprazole versus SOC, as measured by the investigator Assessment Questionnaire (IAQ) total score at Week 26 last observation carried forward (LOCF) (primary endpoint), a validated measure that monitors relief or worsening of 10 key symptoms associated with the psychopathology of schizophrenia and side effects of antipsychotic treatment. Secondary objectives were to further assess effectiveness using the Clinical Global Impression – Global Improvement (CGI-I) and Clinical Global Impression – Severity of Illness scale, to assess time to treatment discontinuation, patient preference of medication, quality of life, and the tolerability of aripiprazole compared with SOC.

    Results

    Aripiprazole treatment (n = 268) resulted in significantly better effectiveness than SOC treatment (n = 254; P < 0.001; Week 26 LOCF) as evidenced by the IAQ total score beginning at Week 4 (the first assessment point) and sustained through Week 26. A similar relationship was demonstrated among patients who completed the study (observed cases analysis); aripiprazole was associated with significantly better effectiveness at all time points with a greater differential effect from SOC over time. Patients treated with aripiprazole also demonstrated significantly greater improvements on the CGI-I scale (responder rate, P = 0.009 at Week 26 LOCF), as well as on quality of life (Quality of Life scale total score; P < 0.001 at Week 26). Furthermore, a significantly higher proportion of patients receiving aripiprazole rated their study medication as “much better” on the Preference of Medication Questionnaire (POM) scale than their pre-study medication compared with SOC patients (P < 0.001; Week 26). Time to treatment discontinuation and rates of discontinuation due to adverse events were similar in both treatment groups. The incidence of patients with one or more extrapyramidal symptom (e.g., akathisia, dystonia, parkinsonian events, and residual events) was higher in patients receiving aripiprazole compared with patients treated with SOC (13.5% vs. 5.6%); however, a higher proportion of patients in the SOC-treated group had clinically significant weight gain (21.2% vs. 7.3% for aripiprazole) and potentially clinically relevant elevated fasting levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and serum prolactin compared with patients receiving aripiprazole.

    Conclusions

    Aripiprazole is an effective atypical antipsychotic for the treatment of schizophrenia, demonstrating better effectiveness than SOC agents used in this study in patients for whom a switch in antipsychotic medication was warranted.

  • Kinetics of the appearance of cereal alkylresorcinols in pig plasma

  • Anna-Maria Linko, Alastair B. Ross, Afaf Kamal-Eldin, Anja Serena, Anna Kirstin Bjørnbak Kjær, Henry Jørgensen, José L. Peñalvo, Herman Adlercreutz, Per Åman, Knud Erik Bach Knudsen
  • Journal:
    British Journal of Nutrition / Volume 95 / Issue 2 / February 2006
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    08 March 2007, pp. 282-287
    Print publication:
    February 2006
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  • Alkylresorcinols (AR) are phenolic lipids found in high amounts in wholegrain wheat and rye. They may be important as bioactive components and/or biomarkers of wholegrain wheat and rye intake. AR absorption was studied with pigs during a habitual diet and after a single meal of AR-rich diet. In study 1, four pigs were fed wholegrain rye (RD) and white wheat bread (WD) for 1 week in a cross-over design. Arterial and venous AR concentrations were determined over 540min after feeding on days 5 and 7. In study 2, four pigs were fed a synthetic, starch-based diet for 5d, and arterial and venous AR concentrations were determined over 960min after feeding a single meal of RD. In study 1, plasma AR concentrations after consuming RD peaked at 120min, remained elevated between 120 and 420min, and were re-elevated on refeeding at 480min. In study 2, AR appeared in the plasma after 60min, peaked at 180–240min, and remained elevated after 960min. The apparent elimination half-life was 3·93h, and the maximum plasma concentration was 666 (sem 35) nmol/l. Arterial and venous plasma AR concentrations were similar, suggesting that AR are absorbed via the lymphatic system. AR concentrations in pig plasma increase rapidly after a meal containing AR, and persist in plasma for at least 5d, indicating that AR may be a useful biomarker of wholegrain wheat and rye intake.

  • Some logical and syntactical observations concerning the first-order dependent type system λP

  • HERMAN GEUVERS, ERIK BARENDSEN
  • Journal:
    Mathematical Structures in Computer Science / Volume 9 / Issue 4 / August 1999
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    01 August 1999, pp. 335-359

  • We look at two different ways of interpreting logic in the dependent type system λP. The first is by a direct formulas-as-types interpretation à la Howard where the logical derivation rules are mapped to derivation rules in the type system. The second is by viewing λP as a Logical Framework, following Harper et al. (1987) and Harper et al. (1993). The type system is then used as the meta-language in which various logics can be coded.

    We give a (brief) overview of known (syntactical) results about λP. Then we discuss two issues in some more detail. The first is the completeness of the formulas-as-types embedding of minimal first-order predicate logic into λP. This is a remarkably complicated issue, a first proof of which appeared in Geuvers (1993), following ideas in Barendsen and Geuvers (1989) and Swaen (1989). The second issue is the minimality of λP as a logical framework. We will show that some of the rules are actually superfluous (even though they contribute nicely to the generality of the presentation of λP).

    At the same time we will attempt to provide a gentle introduction to λP and its various aspects and we will try to use little inside knowledge.

  • Intensive in-patient and community intervention versus routine care after attempted suicide: A randomised controlled intervention study

  • Rob Van Der Sande, Liesbeth Van Rooijen, Erik Buskens, Esther Allart, Keith Hawton, Yolanda Van Der Graaf, Herman Van Engeland
  • Journal:
    The British Journal of Psychiatry / Volume 171 / Issue 1 / July 1997
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    03 January 2018, pp. 35-41
    Print publication:
    July 1997
  • Background

    A randomised clinical trial was carried out in suicide attempters to assess clinical efficacy of an intensive psychosocial intervention compared with treatment as usual.

    Method

    Two hundred and seventy-four suicide attempters presenting for medical treatment were randomly assigned to either intensive psychosocial treatment or ‘care as usual’. Intensive psychosocial treatment consisted of brief admission to a special crisis-intervention unit and problem-solving aftercare. ‘Care as usual’ included any form of treatment the assessing clinicians thought appropriate. Psychological well-being was evaluated by the SCL–90 and the Hopelessness Scale at 3, 6 and 12 months following entry in the study.

    Results

    No differences in outcome were found. The probability of repeat suicide attempts in the 12-month follow-up was 0.17 for patients in the experimental group and 0.15 for the control group. There were no differences in ratings on the SCL–90 and the Hopelessness Scale. Patients in the experimental group attended significantly more out-patient treatment sessions.

    Conclusions

    General implementation of an intensive in-patient and community intervention programme for suicide attempters does not seem justified.